Proposal | reboot11
Reboot's own X Prize
Let's define a solvable problem and fund a competition for schoolkids
My proposal, for this Reboot theme of Action, is that we all part-contribute (€10) to a Reboot Prize fund; a smaller-scale, achievable competition to solve a defined issue, for the good of our wider society...
193428099_636cf1ee9b.jpg.jpeg -
Charles Lindbergh - the original prize winner! (photo via www.flickr.com/photos/_elemenoh_/193428099
I guess a lot of us have been inspired by the X Prize ( www.xprize.org ), which is a nifty way to challenge (and reward) people and small groups (NOT non-government/BigCos) to solve a defined problem.
(From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansari_X_Prize ):
“The X PRIZE was modeled after many prizes from the early 20th century that helped prod the development of air flight, including most notably the $25,000 Orteig Prize that spurred Charles Lindbergh to make his solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean...”
My proposal, for this Reboot theme of Action, is that we all part-contribute (€10) to a Reboot Prize fund; a smaller-scale, achievable competition to solve a defined issue, for the good of our wider society.
Everyone donates €10 (aim: €4,000 fund), and we come up with a few ideas of problems we think would be worthwhile solving.
Over the Reboot week, we all get to vote on the problem we want to see offered as the challenge.
We announce the winning challenge at Reboot, and use the assembled social/professional networks of Rebooters to spread word of the challenge+prize.
Reboot.dk should act as trustee for the cash, and also be final adjudicator for the challenge.
Interested in people’s reactions to the general idea AND any suggestions of problems that people would like to submit to be considered for the prize.
(Tip: the problem must be a definition of the issue, not any guidance on how it could be achieved).
10 comments
Thanks Eric!
Well, that's me and you - only €3,980 to go :-) Come on Rebooters - show us the money!
Eric - any ideas on a 'challenge' you'd like to nominate for the prize?
T minus €3,970 and counting
Great idea.
Ideas? Sure! Try to set up alternatives to the public institutions, since the fight with established media has been won, good riddance to "the 4th power", so now it's time to take on the other three, we don't really need a statefunded governmental, judical system or a military/policeforce do we?
Knowing that this is utopian vision, I'd like to explore how to take babysteps towards base-democracy, something for pratical visionaries, like educating how crowds can police themself, avoiding riots where property is destroyed needlessly.
A good example from Copenhagen is the Distortion Festival, a bad exampel is the flashmob/block-parties that attract "negative and destrutive people" - they have to be policed by "the mob" not the statepolice.
Education and "limits" is key in combining action with responsibility.
So focus could be on how to change policeforce into peaceforce.
Fund the prize from ticket income? Or sponsorship?
Just thinking out loud - wondering if it's feasible to 'take' €5 from the ticket price that people have paid and put it into the Reboot x-prize fund?
I know Thomas and crew run a v. tight ship already (I'm sure Reboot is low/no profit?) and the ticket costs are low anyway, so I'm not sure how feasible this is, or how comfortable we'd feel with this model of funding?
The other model would be sponsorship - try and convince some orgs to match the funding we, as Rebooters, contribute?
Like I said - just thinking out loud :-)
Yess!
Great idea!
I´m in and can commit 20 euros :)
I really like Kim´s proposal and it happens to be relevant to the worshop we´re doing:
www.reboot.dk/page/22439/en
Something Ive been thinking about is a kind of communal social welfare structure. We don´t know one another but are members of a community. Let´s say things are going badly for you, maybe me and the rest of the people in the community can cover for you for a period of time somehow, outside any official institution. Sort of like pass it forward social lending but with goods and services, instead of money. How could we make this work?
How about we do this as a challenge to schools?
Adjusting the focus of this a little...
What if we did this as a challenge to schools? We Rebooters percolate our ideas over the conference and decide on the actual challenge, but instead of challenging ourselves, we take this challenge (and prize fund) back the school(s) in our local community and see if they'll take it on...
Rebooters would be encouraged to lend support/mentoring to the kids to meet the challenge, which would be a nice way to get us connected with our local school, and it would guarantee a way to spread the participants across the world...
This is, of course, rooted in the great traditions of School Science prizes etc. which is no bad thing!
The more I think about this, the more I think it could work really well...we can use a simple website to get people's ideas for a challenge, and then use Reboot as a physical voting centre to end up with Reboot's X-Prize grand challenge...we'll produce a website to explain the challenge, and collect Rebooters+local school's entries...
Why not?
I´m all for taking taking this initiative outside the Reboot community. We could maybe do it as a challenge to old age pensioners who may like to get involved in doing something like this?
x-prize presentation at longnow
I'd like to share some links to Peter Diamandis' presentation at longnow.
blog_ blog.longnow.org/2008/09/15/peter-diamandis-long-term-x-prizes/
mp3_ fora.tv/media/rss/Long_Now_Podcasts/podcast-2008-09-12-diamandis.mp3
Frankly, I am not convinced that 4kEUR will be sufficient to attract folks and expose this effort to the classical media. On the other hand we haven't started brainstorming about the challenge yet...
Thanks for the links Matthias
It was Diamandis's LongNow presentation that triggered the idea, actually!
I think €4k will be decent motivation for a *school* x-prize, I think?
If we focus on a competitive goal for schoolkids to aim for (with assistance from their local friendly Rebooter, of course :-) , I think 4k gives the competition a certain 'piquancy' ?
Excellent!
I like the idea that we crowdsource and crowdfund it. I'm in, for 10 euros. Of course, I will be aiming for the prize, too ;)